Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/136

 104 THE PRACTICE OF SUTTEE at last, unanimously agreed by the judges that the first wife should have the preference a decision at which the latter lady was greatly delighted. Most Sudras, as well as Hindus of the Saivite sect, bury their dead instead of burning them, and there are several instances of wives having been buried alive with their deceased husbands. But the ceremonies in either case are nearly the same. I will relate here two incidents which took place at no great distance from the place where I was living, and which will give a good idea of what these deplor- able scenes of mad fanaticism are like. In 1794, in a village of the Tan j ore district called Pudupettah, there died a man of some importance belonging to the Komatty (Vaisya) caste. His wife, aged about thirty years, announced her intention of accompanying her deceased husband to the funeral pyre. The news having rapidly spread abroad, a large concourse of people flocked together from all quarters to witness the spectacle. When everything was ready for the ceremony, and the widow had been richly clothed and adorned, the bearers stepped forward to remove the body of the deceased, which was placed in a sort of shrine, ornamented with costly stuffs, garlands of flowers, green foliage, etc., the corpse being seated in it with crossed legs, covered with jewels and clothed in the richest attire, and the mouth filled with betel. Immediately after the funeral car followed the widow, borne in a richly decorated palanquin. On the way to the burning-ground she was escorted by an immense